Rain gauges can't measure desperation

Updated 8:08 pm, Sunday, January 12, 2014

Snowboarders enjoy fresh snowfall at Northstar California, a resort at Lake Tahoe, over the weekend of January 10, 2014.

Snowboarders enjoy fresh snowfall at Northstar California, a resort at Lake Tahoe, over the weekend of January 10, 2014.

Photo: Northstar California

Rain gauges can't measure desperation

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Over the weekend, it seemed everybody in Northern California was waiting for two things: the start of the 49ers' game and the "big storm" that was supposed to arrive Saturday.

Well, one out of two ain't bad.

In the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, folks are getting desperate. The storm fizzled into a wet wisp. The only storm was the 49ers' defense in second half.

At Tahoe, some reported 3 inches of snow Saturday. Yeah, right. By the end of the 49ers' game Sunday afternoon, there was bare dirt again along Interstate 80 from above Donner Lake through Truckee. At South Lake Tahoe at the Y, that is, the junction of U.S. 50 and Highway 89, it looked like a cool early-summer day: no snow, blue skies and temps in the mid 40s.

It seems few in government recognize what is happening out there, a full-on drought. In the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, everybody connected to the outdoors gets it.

The only ranches, farms and duck clubs that are getting water are those that have wells. Those few are worried about pumping too much ground water. Last week, I actually saw one almond orchard where a rancher was running piped water from a well into spray-type sprinklers to try to keep the trees from dying. In the middle of winter?

All the water deliveries from irrigation districts have been cut off. Some duck clubs have been high and dry all winter and have members who haven't taken a shot.

In the San Joaquin Valley, it's grim. Many cattle ranches have landscapes that consist of brown stubble and dirt. Ranchers are bringing in hay at tremendous expense - one at Pacheco Pass has spent $350,000 this winter trying to keep his herd - and some are selling off parts of their herds.

There are streams reduced to trickles, low reservoirs and ski areas trying to convince people to sail down on strips of homemade snow.

The outlook for precipitation shows zilch through the end of the month. This week, temps are forecast to rise to the 50s and 60s in the mountains, warmer in the Bay Area.